Real Catholic Blog

During this Holy season, when we make ourselves open to accepting our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, by celebrating the birth of his earthly life, it is more appropriate and important than ever to pray for the healthy birth of all children. That means an end to abortion. Thus, Father Frank Pavone, of Priests for Life, has written a beautiful Advent Prayer for Life. We hope you pray it often during Advent and even throughout the year.

If you want to help distribute this prayer to a wider audience, please share this link to your e-mail lists and on your social media sites. You also can order the prayer cards for bulletin insertion or of ways of distribution by clicking here. 

God of Life,

We rejoice in the promise of your coming.

You have sent your Son, born in Bethlehem.

He is the Prince of Peace, and

The one in whose name all oppression shall cease.

May we welcome his coming each day

And prepare for his coming at the end of time.

May we build a culture that welcomes him

By welcoming every child, born and unborn.

We pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Father Frank Pavone, the national director of Priests For Life, is hosting two important Webcasts in October, starting with one this Wednesday. We recommend them to you. Father Pavone is doing tremendous work in the defense of the unborn and anything we can do to hasten the day when abortion ends and create a culture of life is vital. These Webcasts will provide some very concrete ways to participate in doing just that (click here to register or learn more or hear archived Webcasts) and if your Internet access goes down, you can even call in and participate.

Here’s his invitation:

Friends,

The October Freedom Ride will call for freedom from the oppression of unjust laws and policies. Taking place just a few weeks before our national elections, the Freedom Ride will call in a non-partisan way for citizens to take an active and informed part in the elections and advance the culture of life in the voting booth. On these upcoming webcasts, you will receive ideas and inspiration to do that.

Click here to hear the replay of our first webcast that took place on September 7 with our special guests, Deal Hudson, Dr. Alveda King and David Bereit.

Priests for Life has formed a “Vote Pro-life” Coalition of national ministries. These groups work together to advance non-partisan activities to help the People of Life to engage the electoral process in an informed and responsible way.

The Coalition sponsors these webcasts that can be followed online or by phone, and that offer training for effective political action. …

I hope you will plan to join me and my expert panelists.

Thank you,

Fr. Frank Pavone

Here’s part five of Father Frank Pavone’s insightful and inspirational series on praying to end abortion. Father Pavone is the national director of Priests for Life. You can see part four here from which you can backtack to part three and prior.

We’re all affected by original sin. It has darkened our minds, making it difficult to understand the moral truth. It has weakened our wills, making it more difficult to choose what is good. When we pray, we invite the grace of God into our own lives and the lives of others. When that grace comes it does two things: it enlightens the mind and strengthens the will that’s been weakened by sin. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to properly understand the relationship of all creation to God and to see the value of it.

Praying to end abortion brings into our lives and the lives of others the grace to strengthen the will to choose what is right, and to resist the temptation to abort or to compromise with evil. That grace will give them the strength to say no to evil and yes to the sacrifices necessary to choose life. Let’s increase the intensity of our prayer every day to end abortion that this grace might enlighten the mind and strengthen the will of so many people who otherwise might choose death.

 We’re all affected by original sin. … When we pray, we invite the grace of God into our own lives and the lives of others.

Here’s part four of Father Frank Pavone’s series on praying to end abortion. For part three, click here, where you can also find the links to the first two parts. Each is less than two minutes and is well worth your time since when we pray to end abortion, we honor God by praying His will be fulfilled in saving the very lives He creates. 

On another note, please help the cause by sending this link to friends and posting it to as many social networking sites as possible. Prayer is our ultimate tool in ending the abomination of abortion. It truly is astounding: those who believe abortion is a “right” and that “government should stay out of it” feel a sense of outrage when pro-life people pray. If all they care about is keeping government out of the issue, why should they care about people praying? (Many are atheists, so they really shouldn’t care, should they? So their anger at Christian prayer tells me something.)

But take a look at the thread at one of Father Pavone’s videos on YouTube (here). It’s full of vile messages. It’s reflective of those who confront the prayerful outside abortion centers, with in-your-face obscenities.

What’s worse are the politicians who claim they despise abortion, but that the government can’t get involved. Yet these politicians never contribute to or help pregnancy resource centers or join pro-life rallies or do anything non-governmental to discourage abortion.

It all points to what we’re up against: hypocrites and radicals, many of whom are very powerful. Which brings us back to prayer. To learn more about the power of prayer, join Father Pavone at Pro Life Prayers.com or at Priests for Life, where he is the national director.

According to Father Pavone:

We pray to end abortion because we are praying for a stop to the killing of human beings. When the rich young man came up to Jesus and asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus said, “You have to keep the commandments.” The first commandment He mentioned was, “You Shall Not Kill.”

There is hardly anything you can do that’s worse to a person than to end that person’s life. And we know what it means in the very depths of our being and in our culture to save a life. We pray all the time for people to recover from serious illness, for people to be protected from serious danger; we are praying for the preservation of their lives. Saving a life is considered one of the greatest things that anybody can do and, when we want to illustrate that we are not guilty of anything serious, we often say, “Well, at least I didn’t kill anyone.” The motivation to pray to end abortion is rooted in the deepest parts of our human nature, and therefore this has a priority over other intentions of prayer.

Our culture values life. That’s why we call those who rescue others “heroes” and pray for people who are sick. It’s also why we need to pray for the end of abortion — to save human life, because human life is the same whether it’s born or unborn, and it’s God’s will that it live to natural death.

Here is Father Frank Pavone’s third installment on praying to end abortion. Father Pavone is the National Director of Priests for Life. His first two videos, all of which are less than two minutes, can be found here and here. I highly recommend them and hope you will pass along this link to others. I will post part four sometime soon.

Praying to end abortion is an act of humility because, as Father Pavone says, “Every time a child is conceived it is an expression of the will of God. Praying to end abortion is another way of acknowledging He is God and we are not.” He sums up part three in this way:

We have already seen that prayer unites us with the will of God and involves us in the great plan of His that is unfolding throughout history. A key aspect of that plan was summarized by Jesus Christ when He said, “I came that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Human life is an expression of the will of God, so when we pray to end abortion, we’re worshiping God because we’re saying, “Lord, Your will for life needs to be fulfilled, and so the killing needs to stop.”

Every time a child is conceived it is an expression of the will of God. Praying to end abortion is another way of acknowledging He is God and we are not. When we pray to end abortion, we say “yes” to God. St. Paul says that Christ is the great Yes, the great Amen to all the promises of God. Abortion is the great No. It is anti-Christ, anti-God, anti-God’s plan. … So we pray to end abortion as a way of worshiping the God who says Yes to life.

Praying to end abortion shows obedience and humility to God, the Father. Because every conceived child is an expression of God’s will, praying for its life is another way “of acknowledging He is God and we are not.”

Here’s an exciting event hosted by Father Frank Pavone of Priests For Life. It’s an election related conference call and it will feature Thomas Peters of American Papist and other prominent, traditionalist Catholics. It takes place tomorrow from 9:00-10:00 Eastern Time. Here is Father Pavone’s invite:

Friends,

I am inviting you to join me along with Tom Peters of Catholic Vote Action (www.catholicvoteaction.org) and other special guests, for an important election-related conference call on Thursday evening, February 25, from 9 to 10pm ET. This will be part of our “Vote Pro-life” Coalition, and we will continue to gear up for the elections of 2010. You will be able to listen to the call either by phone or by internet.

This call will not be the same as the January 25 call but rather a continuation of the discussion. Click here to listen to a replay of the January 25 call which featured David Barton of Wallbuilders, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, Brian Burch of Catholic Vote and Gary Bauer of American Values.

After you sign up, (click here) you will receive a letter via email with the details. If you do not receive the letter, be sure to check your spam folder. The letter will also appear on your computer screen and you can print it from there.

Now is the time to get started, and we need all hands on deck! Join us for an informative and inspiring call on February 25.

Thank you,

Fr. Frank Pavone

National Director, Priests For Life

Father Frank Pavone, the national director of Priests For Life, and one of the pro-life movement’s most tireless workers in the cause for the unborn and innocent life, celebrates his 51st birthday this week. Instead of seeking presents, or even well wishes, he seeks a commitment from us to protect unborn life.

Dear Friends,

My 51st birthday is this Thursday, February 4. While birthdays are happy occasions, and this is no exception, they also are sad memorials of the 50 million children, in this country alone, who have not had birthdays due to losing their lives to abortion. My birthday refocuses me to fight even harder for their lives and to rally the Priests for Life family to do the same.

Please join with me and support me in fighting for the lives of God’s children, on my birthday and every day. There would be no birthday gift greater than an end to abortion.

God bless!

-Fr. Frank Pavone

Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests For Life, has created a new Web site for people to discuss their pro-life strategy. He’s looking for new, innovative and creative ideas in which to educate, motivate and activate people to the defense of the unborn. It’s ProLifeStrategy.com. Watch Father Pavone explain this new tool in mobilizing and expanding the pro-life movement in America.

Father Frank Pavone wants your ideas and strategies.

Father Frank Pavone (see Father Pavone’s Blog) and Priests for Life are hosting a Vote Pro-Life teleconference on Monday, January 25, 2010. The teleconference will focus on the 2010 elections and will have a panel of experts, including David Barton of Wallbuilders and Majorie Dannenfelser (see Weekly Standard interview on YouTube) of the Susan B. Anthony List (see The SOP.org).

The teleconference, which is designed to motivate, inspire and educate will be a great way to capitalize on the momentum of the March For Life later this week in Washington, D.C. (It’s not too late to attend. Ask your parish, diocese, a Knights of Columbus council, find here, or other Catholic or pro-life organization in your community if they are planning to charter a bus.) If you can’t attend the March For Life, the teleconference is a good way to learn how you can participate in the pro-life movement.

Sign up for the teleconference here, at Priest For Life. After you sign up, you will receive an e-mail with more details. You cannot receive the details on how to participate without an online RSVP. 

Father Pavone accurately notes that “A key part of putting our prayers into action is bringing them to the voting booth.” So, please, forward this link to friends you think are interested in getting more involved so they can learn about the teleconference. You can also join the Pro-Life Cause on Facebook by clicking here. Father Pavone asks that we “act for the unborn so that we may save Our Lord’s children.”

Here is a message from Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests For Life, from last week. It’s succinct, but powerful. We cannot let the soon to be hectic time of year distract us from the importance of the health care legislation pending in Congress, for it most assuredly will undermine the sanctity of the unborn.

Advent is upon us when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, the miracle of the Word made flesh. How can we celebrate that birth but forget the destruction of millions of unborn children each year, each a miracle itself, miracles denied by abortion? Please pray vigilantly for the end of abortion.

Dear Friends,

Sunday (was) the Feast of Christ the King and the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The following week, Advent begins and the Church focuses on the coming of Christ, both at Christmas and at the end of time.

Christ is truly king over heaven and earth. How important it is for us to remember that in this battle for health care reform to protect the unborn. This battle is ultimately about who rules over us; it is about who our King is. Our worship of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords impels us to communicate with our elected representatives and urge them to do what is right.

God bless you.

- Fr. Frank Pavone